HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University softball team will take on Maryland Eastern Shore in a three-game conference series this Friday and Saturday at the Lady Pirates Softball Stadium, with Friday's doubleheader being televised live on ESPNU and ESPN3.com.
 
Friday's doubleheader will start at 1 p.m., with the second game starting at roughly 3:30 p.m. Saturday's game, which will not be televised, will start at 12 p.m.
 
The Lady Pirates (16-18, 6-3 MEAC) have won three of their last five games after splitting a non-conference doubleheader against George Washington on Wednesday at the Lady Pirates Softball Stadium. Hampton is in second place in the MEAC Northern Division, having taken two out of three games against Howard in its last conference series.
 
UMES (7-30, 4-4 MEAC) has not played since April 5-6, when the Lady Hawks dropped two of three games against conference foe Norfolk State. Overall, UMES has lost six of its last seven games; the Lady Hawks' last win streak came on March 22-23, when they won all three games against Howard.
 
The Lady Pirates are in their first season under interim head coach Michael Pelegrino, who was an assistant coach last season as Hampton won 34 games, taking the MEAC Northern Division regular-season title and winning its first MEAC Tournament crown since 1996.
 
Hampton was picked to finish second in the MEAC Northern Division this season.
 
Junior Jailynn Jackson (Virginia Beach, Va.), the MEAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year, was a large part of last season's success, earning MEAC Pitcher of the Year honors after winning 26 games for the Lady Pirates and striking out a MEAC-best (and school-record) 255 batters in 252.0 innings pitched.
 
She was also an NFCA Second Team All-Region selection and a Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Second Team All-State honoree. Jackson led the MEAC in wins, ERA (2.64), and strikeouts last season, while setting school records in innings pitched, appearances, and starts.
 
So far this season, Jackson is 11-10 with a 2.90 ERA and 89 strikeouts.
 
The Lady Pirates return seven letterwinners and five starters (as well as two pitchers) from last season's squad, including junior Margaret Wilkins (Tustin, Calif.), who was named First Team All-MEAC last season after hitting .343 with six home runs and 32 RBIs.
 
She tied for second in the MEAC with 49 runs scored last season, and Wilkins was also third in the conference in hits, fifth in total bases, seventh in doubles, and tied for eighth in the home runs.
 
So far this season, Wilkins leads the team with a .385 batting average. Budden is second on the team with a .343 batting average, and she leads the team with four home runs, 23 RBIs, and a .559 slugging percentage.
 
Sophomore Taylor McCoy (Riverview, Fla.) was the Most Outstanding Player of last season's MEAC Tournament, and she earned VaSID Second Team All-State honors after hitting a team-best .398. She also led the Lady Pirates in hits, doubles, RBIs, total bases, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and fielding percentage.
 
McCoy was second in the MEAC in hits, doubles, and total bases last season, while ranking third in the conference in batting average and tying for fourth in RBIs. She was also fifth in the MEAC in on-base percentage.
 
Junior Kerissa Burruel (Phoenix, Ariz.) was a Second Team All-MEAC selection last season, after hitting .285 for the season, recording a .350 on-base percentage, and going 3-for-4 in stolen bases. She also had a .925 fielding percentage, committing just 11 errors on the season.
 
Sophomore Diamond Ponds (Riverside, Calif.) was tied for fifth in the MEAC last season with 22 stolen bases.
 
Hampton is 81-9 against Maryland Eastern Shore, and the Lady Pirates have won each of the last eight meetings between the two teams – including conference series sweeps in each of the last two seasons. UMES last beat Hampton on April 3, 2011, 12-4 to salvage a game in the three-game conference series. UMES last won consecutive games over Hampton on April 17-18, 2009.
 
For more information on Hampton University softball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.